Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse Gets a Big Thumbs Up

The Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse is designed for mobility. Weighing just 2.5 ounces, it has an internal battery, two Bluetooth channels, and can handle a wide variety of OS X gestures.

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A lot of thought was put into this mouse in terms of what mobile users need. It's small, lightweight, and has an internal battery chargeable from your MacBook with a cable -- because travelers don't always have ready access to the right kind of battery when they need one.

Right off the top, I should state that this is a well-built, capable mouse, but it's a small mouse, designed for mobility, not generally for desktop use for large, adult-sized hands. However, it can be used on the desktop if desired by anyone. The intention, however, is to use it on the flat space next to a MacBook's trackpad -- for those people who prefer a mouse. With that understanding, let's look at this mouse in greater detail.

I was sent a white version, model T631.

Using The Ultrathin Touch Mouse

This mouse is a lot like the Apple Magic Mouse, and I'll be making some comparisons to it. Being somewhat smaller and thinner than most mice means that it will more easily fit into travel bags. Having two Bluetooth channels recognizes that a user may want to assign it to a desktop Mac and then, seamlessly, take it on travel and use it there as well without tedious re-pairing. The soft pads on the bottom ensure that it won't scratch the aluminum of your MacBook.

L: Apple Magic Mouse; R: Logitech Ultrathin TOuch Mouse.

In my mind, one of the standout features of this mouse is the click action. The click feel on this mouse is the best I've ever felt on a mouse. Ever. It's light, positive, and crisp and has a pleasant audible feedback. That alone is almost enough to convert me on the desktop, and it would certainly be my number one travel mouse now.

Top: Apple Magic Mouse; Bottom: Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse.

Logitech says that one minute of charge will be good for about an hour of use, on average, so I don't think users need to feel as if this mouse will rob the MacBook of considerable capacity. (I didn't test that because I started with a fully charged unit.) On a full charge, Logitech says the user should get about 10 hours of use. Like the Apple Magic Mouse, it goes to sleep during periods of inactivity to save battery power.

The wired section of the USB to micro-USB cable assembly is not long, just 90 mm (3.5 inches) and is clearly designed to cozy up to the MacBook on a table when charging. It's another thing to remember to throw into your travel bag, but it certainly makes sure you'll always have a charged and usable mouse, no matter where you are.

Out of the box, this mouse isn't extraordinarily capable and only has default settings. The default scroll speed is only moderate. To fully exploit it, you'll need to download the Logitech Preference Manager. Then, the Ultrathin will really shine. The small, accompanying pamphlet provides an explicit, product specific URL for support and download, so there's no confusion. That seems trivial and obvious, but it's amazing how many companies can't get that part right.

Once you download and instal the Preference Pane, you can do a lot of nice things with this mouse. Here's Logitech's chart.

In fact, you can do more with this mouse than even the Apple Magic Mouse, especially in terms of scroll speed and secondary gesture options. Like the Apple Magic Mouse, the battery charge is displayed on the Preference Pane.

Compare that to the available settings for the Apple Magic Mouse.

When the battery is low on the Magic Mouse, you'll get an on-screen prompt. On the Ultrathin, an LED on the top will glow red.

One thing I noticed about the Ultrathin is that it requires just a smidgen more pressure to scroll.

One of the problems I have the the Apple Magic Mouse is that if my index finger wanders or I brush against it when typing, it will fast throw scroll my page in BBEdit. The chances of that happening on a MacBook are even higher. The oh, so small extra pressure required on the Ultrathin's top surface means that that doesn't happen so often. I appreciate that. If that was intentional, Logitech's engineers are to be congratulated.

On the other hand, the small surface area on the top of the Ultrathin means that your index finger will have to bend a little more. I noticed that effect, and I suspect it could be a problem for some people with arthritis. It bothered me only a little, bit then I've only been using it for three days.

Packaging, Documentation and Requirements

The Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse ships in a first-class, clear plastic case that's so nice, you may not want to throw it away. A small, and I mean small, pamphlet covers set up and use in multiple languages.

Plastic packaging is superb. Manual and text, however, is small.

It's a good thing I have 20/20 vision at 40 cm distance, or I wouldn't be able to read the small text. This is an eternal struggle for developers. Apple tends to solve the problem with a small card that directs the customer to a website, but a quick start guide on paper is always more satisfying, especially for a mouse. After all, one wants to use the mouse right now, not go onto the Internet and fuss around.

I should add here that there are two models. According to Logitech, "The Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse T630 (black) is compatible with Windows 7 or 8 systems. The Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse T631 (white) is compatible with OS X 10.6.8 or later systems. Both work with all laptops, tablets and desktops meeting these operating system requirements." On other words, they are interchangeable.

I noted that the product specification page is unjustifiably sparse, so I had to inquire with my review contact on some of the technical details herein.

At first I was worried that the internal battery might fail after a year or so, just out of warranty. And then one would be faced with the aggravation of buying a new mouse. However, unlike Apple's Magic Mouse, the Logitech warranty is three years. That puts my concerns to rest.

Say Cheese

I have much appreciation and affection for this mouse, but specifically in a mobile environment where the small size would pay off. For every day use, as an editor, I still prefer the Apple Magic Mouse. It fills out the palm of my hand better.

But, oh my, that fabulous click action of the Ultrathin is so alluring. I'm keeping it on my desk for fun.

Considering that it is a mobile product, I'm surprised that Logitech didn't include a small microfiber pouch to protect it. The surface does tend to pick up smudges, but also cleans up nicely with standard display cleaner fluids.

The bottom line is that the Logitech Ultrathin Touch Mouse looks to be a great travel mouse for people who prefer a mouse to a trackpad. It's well made, well designed and a pleasure to use, I surmise, for short periods of time.

Any idea if these are available in stores? I always like to try them out first. I like really flat mice, which is why I’ve preferred Apple’s. This looks considerably flatter but the proof is in the touching.